By-Election 2017: BJP Leads In Six Of 10 Assembly Seats Across 8 States – 10 Facts

West Delhi’s Rajouri Garden seat fell vacant early this year after AAP’s Jarnail Singh quit as legislator to contest Punjab Assembly polls. Congress’ Delhi chief Ajay Maken has said the by-polls will be a “referendum” of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s work in the last two years. He had swept the Delhi elections in 2015, winning 67 of the 70 seats.

In Karnataka, where the by-polls were held in Nanjangud and Gundlupet assembly seats – results however will not affect the stability of the Congress government, but the elections were key for both the ruling Congress and the BJP to assess their voter-base for the assembly elections of 2018.

Nanjangud is in Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s home district of Mysuru and it is crucial for him to retain the seat. His close aide-turned-rival V Srinivas Prasad, who held the seat earlier, joined the BJP after he was dropped as minister and is now contesting as the BJP candidate. The Congress’ Kalale Keshavamurthy is leading in the seat.

It is seen as a prestige battle between the BJP and Congress in Assam’s Dhemaji. The BJP’s Ranoj Pegu, a senior party leader, is fighting against a new face from the Congress – Babul Sonowal. While the BJP hopes to continue its winning streak in the state, the Congress aims for a political resurgence for the party after humiliating defeat in the 2016 assembly polls.

The BJP is also leading in both Ater and Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh. The elections in the state were held amid controversy over an EVM demonstration video.

In Himachal Pradesh, BJP’s Anil Dhima has win from Bhoranj seat by a margin over 8,000 votes .

In Kerala’s Malappuram, the high-voltage campaign had seen heated debates on beef versus development. The UDF had launched a do-or-die battle to retain its stronghold, while the ruling LDF is hoping for an upset win. Congress-led UDF candidate P K Kunhalikutty of the Indian Union Muslim League, CPI-M’s M B Faisal of ruling LDF and BJP nominee N Sreeprakash were the main contestants in the fray.

In Dholpur Assembly constituency in Rajasthan, home turf of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, the ruling BJP is confident of win. Shobha Rani Kushavah is leading with a comfortable margin.

In West Bengal’s Kanthi Dakshin seat, Trinamool Congress candidate Chandrima Bhattacharya is leading. The by-poll had been necessitated after Trinamool legislators Dibyendu Adhikari was elected to Lok Sabha from Tamluk seat.

In Srinagar, where the by-polls on April 9 saw a voter turnout of only 0.7 per cent, lowest in nearly three decades, re-election in 38 polling stations across the parliamentary constituency is being held today. Election Commision had ordered re-polling after eight civilians were killed and about 100 security personnel were injured in violence on the polling day.